Activists Briefing - Issue 5

17th August 2005

IN THE NEWS

Railfuture director, Andrew Macfarlane, appeared twice live on TV from Irlam station on Wednesday 20 July. In his 08.20 appearance on BBC1 Breakfast Andrew drew attention to the need for more facilities at busy unstaffed stations but bemoaned the divided responsibility between Network Rail and the TOCs, which leads to buck passing. His 09.20 appearance on BBC News 24 was briefer but Andrew hopes he got over the need for investment in smaller stations.

James Rudman from the National Farmers Union has contacted us and asked for our comments on rural railways. Our Chairman, Mike Crowhurst, submitted an article for possible inclusion in NFU Countryside magazine. If any member sees any follow up in NFU literature could they please send a copy to Mike or myself.

NEWS FROM RAILFUTURE BRANCHES

The East Midlands Passenger Transport Users’ Forum (EMPTUF) is holding its first public meeting on Tuesday 6th September from 1 to 4 pm at the Miners Welfare Centre, Tilford Road, Newstead, Notts just around the corner from Newstead station on the Robin Hood line. Notts County Council is sponsoring this meeting and we understand that Nick Brown “Director of National Express Group” will be the main speaker. If we are to get a common voice for public transport in the East Midlands then it is very important this first meeting is well attended. Railfuture members in the East Midlands are urged to attend if they can. Details from East Midlands branch secretary Roger Bacon email: rbrail at btinternet.com tel: 0115 921 7814

A story in the (Newcastle) Journal on 5th August said that the SRA have recommended savage cuts in services in the North as part of the East Coast Main Line RUS. In the paper Peter Wood, of Railfuture North East, said: "This is the last will and testament of the SRA and the sooner both it and its report is buried, the better. "It doesn't seem to do anything to encourage the development of rail in this region, which the Government was elected to pursue."
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/thejournal/news/journalnews/tm_objectid=15822122%26method=full%26siteid=50081-name_page.html

“Growing the network” a discussion paper by Railfuture Chairman, Mike Crowhurst, is now on the members’ area of the Railfuture website. Some comments have been incorporated in the paper and others are appended to the paper. Any further comments to Mike please. http://www.railfuture.org.uk/tiki-index.php?page=Railfuture%20Members

Railfuture Lincolnshire will be taking their exhibition stand to 2 events next month. Grantham Rail Show on 3rd & 4th September - venue Central Technology College, Rushcliffe Road, Grantham 10.00 – 17.30 (17.00 on Sunday). Cleethorpes Rail Day 11th September – venue Cleethorpes station 10.00 – 16.00.

Railfuture East Anglia will be exhibiting at the Community Rail Fest at Norwich Station on 24 and 25th September.

RAFFLE TICKETS

If any members or branches need extra books of raffle tickets Chris Precey has some to spare. (Tel/fax 01455 616824)

NEWS FROM SRA

The West Midlands RUS was published by the SRA on 21st July. The SRA says that the strategy will deliver –
 Better use of rolling stock, especially in the peak;
 Longer peak time trains, where they are affordable and deliver value for money;
 Extension of off-peak services from Birmingham to provide a higher frequency to Kidderminster, Stratford-upon-Avon and Rugeley Trent Valley ;
 Changes on the Shrewsbury-Wolverhampton-Birmingham corridor to improve performance, including possibly in the future, the operation of a peak time Shrewsbury-London service.

Principal changes from the consultation document include continuation of services at Stone station, a fast coach service to replace the Wolverhampton – Walsall local service from April 2006 and detailed forecasts of where and when peak passenger service are likely to require lengthening and confirmation that demand for rail services continues to grow apace.

According to the report route capacity is likely to be sufficient to meet expected rail freight growth in the West Midlands up to 2011, except for Water Orton to Birmingham where Network Rail are developing a scheme to provide more capacity.

Railfuture West Midlands comment that “the West Midlands RUS has been written before the Regional Planning Assessment which it was supposed to serve - rather like setting the points before you decide where you are going.

With regard to the proposed withdrawal of the Walsall – Wolverhampton service the details in the RUS are more cloudy than suggested by the headlines in the press release.

Firstly it is currently a Wellington to Walsall service, which starts at Shrewsbury in the morning peak, in which the Telford to Wolverhampton section will be retained from December 2006 as part of a longer Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton local service as many passengers during the recent overtime ban preferred this.

Secondly the timings at Walsall give very poor connections from the (hourly) Chase Line service which with its common Black Country heritage is likely to provide many of the potential passengers.

Finally although the RUS says that the service should be withdrawn from April 2006, it does suggest that the service could be continued if funded locally by Centro and other stakeholders. Centro and Walsall UC were strongly supportive of this service - which also could be linked to one of the services from Birmingham which currently terminate at Walsall. Significantly there is virtually no mention of the social value of rail services in the RUS.

A far more serious threat is the proposed total withdrawal of all local services from Barlaston and Wedgwood - which are far from the most lightly used station on the network - simply to clear paths for Virgin. (2 x VWC + 2 x VXC per hour). It is small compensation that Stone has now formally been offered 6 stops per day the in VXC Birmingham to Manchester service - in place of the former 9 tpd local service!

Elsewhere we can read that demand at Polesworth was too low to merit a service even when the planned 2 hourly Northampton to Crewe service starts to call at all other Trent valley stations. (Nuneaton, Atherstone, Tamworth, Lichfield TV, Rugeley TV and Stafford although the stopping pattern is not yet known).

A final point that has not often been reported is that many of the conclusions – at least for track enhancements – in the RUS were anticipated three months ago when Network Rail’s 2005 Business Plan was published.”
NB If you want to know the infrastructure plans for your line then this is where you need to look. see: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/companyinformation/businesspublications/BusinessPlan2005.htm

NEWS FROM ORR

Model Contract for Connection Agreements
On 25 July 2005 the ORR published a model contract for connections between railway facilities, such as those between Network Rail’s network and freight facilities or heritage railways.
The model contract sets out simply and clearly the rights and obligations of the parties in respect of the ongoing maintenance of connections between two railway networks. It is flexible enough to be applied to a wide range of different types of connection, from complex and busy connections such as those to freight terminals, to basic and infrequently used connections such as those to self-contained heritage railways. It will also bring connection contracts into line with the other model contracts ORR has produced for passenger and freight track access agreements.
ORR consulted interested industry parties on a draft model connection contract in July 2004. An industry seminar was held in October of that year and ORR consulted further on the charging and liabilities provisions in April 2005. The final policy conclusions and model connection contract set out in the document published today reflects the views expressed by the industry.
Source ORR press release http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.7310

Combining safety and economic regulation – Bulletin No 2 published on 29th July 2005
This is the second bulletin produced by the ORR. It informs stakeholders of ORR’s current thinking and of progress regarding the transfer of responsibility for railway health and safety regulation from the Health and Safety Commission/Executive (HSC/E) to ORR. The Bulletin is provided for information, though ORR welcomes any comments you may care to make. The ORR expects to assume their new responsibilities as the combined safety and economic regulator in the first quarter of 2006.
Source: ORR press release http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.00100700400e

In April 2005 the ORR published “Better information, better decisions: ORR's proposed strategy for developing a rail industry information network”. Copies of the responses to this consultation are now on the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.7303

FREIGHT ON RAIL STATEMENT BY ALISTAIR DARLING

Alistair Darling made a written Ministerial statement on Freight on Rail on 19th July. The Secretary of basically repeated previous assurances. Among other comments he said, “We believe rail therefore has a crucial role to play in goods transport alongside other modes, and we wish to see freight travelling by rail instead of road wherever this makes most sense.
This aim can be delivered most effectively by a competitive and dynamic private sector rail freight industry, and this is borne out by the growth since privatisation, which has been driven by real on-rail competition throughout the industry, including several new entrants to the market. We will not dictate to the industry how it should run its business or become involved in operational issues. Where disputes occur with other parts of the railway, they should be resolved through established rail industry dispute procedures.

But the Government do have a role to play and a relationship with the rail freight industry. Rail freight companies run on the same tracks as the publicly specified passenger railway therefore, the Government have to be mindful of their needs. And the Government recognise and wishes to encourage the important environmental and economic benefits that rail freight can bring.

We will therefore ensure that our policies and regulations do not put unnecessary obstacles in the way of future growth; we will continue to provide financial support where it is affordable and offers the greatest environmental, congestion and safety benefits when assessed alongside support for other modes; and we will ensure that in specifying the passenger railways, we recognise and take into account the consequences of our decisions upon the rail freight industry.
Source: Hansard This is a link to the full statement -
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm050719/wmstext/50719m06.htm#50719m06.html_spmin5

TRANSPORT INNOVATION FUND

Alistair Darling announced the new Transport Innovation Fund on 5th July. Money from the Fund will become available from 2008/09 and is forecast to grow from £290 million in 2008/09 to about £2.5 billion by 2014/15. The Fund will be used to support innovative local plans which help tackle congestion. Proposals should combine some form of demand management such as road pricing with better public transport, including better use of buses, trams or light rail schemes, provided they offer good value for money. The Government has set aside £18m between 2005/6 and 2007/8 to support preliminary scheme development by local transport authorities.

The Government want to work with local authorities to develop and implement a pilot scheme for road pricing. No decisions have been taken on where such a pilot might take place. They hope to identify partner authorities willing to work up pilot proposals within the next year. And for them to start work on the ground with support from the Transport Innovation Fund when it comes on stream.

The Transport Innovation Fund has local importance in areas with potential light rail schemes because Alistair Darling suggested that some of the funding gaps such as with Metrolink "could" be bridged via a TIF bid. However it is notable that in the supporting documentation there are plenty of mentions for Road Pricing and buses, not a single one for trains or trams.
Link to Ministerial statement and supporting documentation: (note the "R" word in the weblink!!) http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_038886.hcsp

CRS REPORT - PASSENGER RAIL SECURITY – OVERVIEW OF ISSUES

The March 2004 bombing of passenger trains in Spain, and the recent attacks in London, highlighted the vulnerability of passenger rail systems to terrorist attack. The number of riders and access points make it impractical to subject all rail passengers to the type of screening airline passengers undergo. Nevertheless, steps can be taken to reduce the risks of an attack.

This report looks at the situation in the United States but has relevance to the UK. It summarises the challenges of securing passenger rail systems, options for making decisions about security funding, industry requests for funding, and legislative initiatives. One challenge is balancing the desire for and cost of increased rail passenger security with the impacts of security measures on the operating efficiency of passenger rail systems, with the potential costs that could be incurred in the event of one or more attacks, and with the costs and benefits of other options for promoting homeland security.
Source: Congressional Research Service The Library of Congress http://eb.emediaInternational.com/l/?347.499261.BQJNSOSD.0

SECURE STATIONS SCHEME CLARIFIED BY BTP

This national Scheme covers all rail and underground networks, which are policed by the British Transport Police BTP. It establishes standards of good practice and accredits individual stations, which have worked with the BTP and other local partners to implement security measures. There are four accreditation criteria:
 the design of the station must conform to standards judged by the local BTP Crime Reduction Officer to prevent and reduce crime and improve passenger perceptions;
 the management of the station must enable you to take steps to prevent crimes, respond to incidents, and communicate effectively with passengers;
 crime statistics for the station over the twelve months prior to the inspection must show that you are managing crime; and
 a survey of users must show that, on the whole, passengers feel secure when using the station.

Source: The full Scheme guidance pack can be accessed from the DfT website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_mobility/documents/divisionhomepage/036930.hcsp.

HOW FAIR ARE THE FARES? TRAIN FARES AND TICKETING

The Transport Committee of the House of Commons has decided to launch an inquiry into the price and availability of train tickets in the UK. Research by the RMT union in 2005 suggested that standard train tickets in the UK cost three times as much as those on comparable routes in mainland Europe. UK train operators suggest that passengers in the UK benefit from cheaper advance purchase fares, and that these can now be cheaper in real terms than those available 10 years ago. Fare types and names which differ between train operators can cause confusion, as can fares which differ depending on whether they are booked by phone, on the internet or in person.

Standard and discounted fare levels alone do not provide the full picture; the availability of cheap fares is also important. Before public holidays in 2004, some rail passengers were frustrated in their attempts to buy cheap advance purchase tickets or make seat reservations. Train operating companies apparently did not know whether they would be able to run their trains as planned. They suggested they received information from Network Rail about the timetable only one or two weeks in advance because of Network Rail's schedule of engineering works. By that time, the deadline for cheap advance purchase tickets had passed.

Under the terms of its licence, Network Rail is supposed to set its timetables at least 12 weeks in advance. It suggested that the problems followed an unprecedented amount of work on the railways, especially on the West Coast Main Line. Network Rail also suggested that the situation was now improving. During the course of its inquiry the Committee will consider issues such as:
 The comparative cost of rail travel to passengers in the UK;
 The justification for the current fare and ticketing structure, and the case for reform;
 The availability of cheaper, advance purchase rail tickets; and
 The way in which Network Rail's determination of the timetable can affect the cost of rail travel.

Railfuture Passenger Committee are co-ordinating the Railfuture response. Comments to committee chairman, Howard Thomas, by 31st August 2005.
Source: Transport Committee Press Notice 05/2005-06, dated 9 August 2005 http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/transport_committee/trans05_06_press_notice05.cfm

CLOSURE OF ETRURIA STATION IS APPROVED

The Department for Transport has approved the closure of Etruria Station in Staffordshire. They find that the cost of replacing it following track realignment cannot be justified in view of the small number of passengers (about 22 per day whilst the bustitution was in place) Those having Adobe Acrobat software may read Derek Twigg MP's decision letter of July 21st here: www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_039661.pdf

Railfuture West Midlands branch advise that there is local concern that whereas the North Staffordshire Integrated Transport Study NSITS should have been completed in September with a period of public consultation it has now been presented as a fait accompli and, contrary to the local authority view, apparently sees no place for rail in the Potteries. We understand that the NSITS has not technically been published yet as none of the Local Authorities who commissioned it have given their formal approval to the final draft! It is of course difficult to challenge any of these points whilst parliament is in recess other than by resorting to a judicial review.

Despite having a combined population of 500,000 the Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under Lyme conurbation has a minimal South to North through local rail service and no East-West rail (or Tram) routes at all. The Crewe - Derby service does provide an hourly service to Kidsgrove, Longport, (Etruria), Stoke-on-Trent, Longton and Blythe Bridge. The problem is that the railway no longer reaches either Hanley or Newcastle-under-Lyme for which Etruria was the nearest station. Of course the high frequency, 4 tph, Virgin services give excellent opportunities for residents to commute out of the City to London or Manchester.

However there is some good news. Local planners are still looking at long term plans to build a new station at 'Festival Park' which would probably replace both Etruria and Longport.

THE RAILWAYS (PENALTY FARES) REGULATIONS 2005 - REGULATORY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

This final regulatory impact assessment sets out the benefits and costs for the decision to raise the Minimum Level Penalty Fare from £10 to £20. Published: 5 August 2005
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_control/documents/contentservertemplate/dft_index.hcst?n=14258&l=2

TWO THIRDS OF THE PUBLIC ARE OPPOSED TO 60 TONNE LORRIES

Two applications have been submitted to the Department for Transport for experimental use of bigger lorries – one at 60 tonnes, the other at 84 tonnes – in the form of double articulated vehicles, known in the US and Australia as “road trains”. The current maximum weight limit is 44 tonnes, which was raised from 40 tonnes in 2001. Source T2000 press release: http://www.transport2000.org.uk/

ASLEF commissioned an opinion survey by NOP, which showed that two thirds of the public are opposed to the proposal to increase by one third the length and weight of lorries permitted on UK roads. 86% favoured the alternative of the Government, through planning policy and funding, to encourage more freight to go by rail. Only 9% said no. Details are on the ASLEF website at http://www.aslef.org.uk/C2B/PressOffice/display.asp?ID=192&Type=2

This link will also take you to a factsheet giving the case against 60 tonne lorries. Why not use the factsheet to write a letter to your MP asking him/her to oppose increased lorry weights?

PLANNING APPLICATION SUBMITTED FOR A NEW STATION AT BRINSFORD

A planning application has been submitted to South Staffordshire District Council for a large new Park & Ride station at Brinsford, about 5 miles north of Wolverhampton. The plans suggest a four track layout with a 300 metre island platform to allow Virgin Pendolinos, which currently terminate at Wolverhampton, to call; as well as local services from Birmingham etc. The site NGR SJ 921055 - once access to a large MOD Depot - is close to the M54 overbridge and about 3 Kms south of the former Four Ashes station.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

The report of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee enquiry into the 'Future of Rail' has now been published. (May 2005). Although this dates from 2003/04 the oral and written evidence is worth reading as not only are there many well reasoned contributions; a few individuals are still promoting the Rail into Road nonsense - it always helps to know who your enemies are!
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmtran/145/14502.htm#evidence